


as fine as hell

by kihyuks



Series: monsta x bingo winter 2019 [4]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Comedy, Demon Summoning, Demons, Fluff and Angst, Humor, M/M, Monsta X Bingo, Multi, Supernatural Elements, Urban Fantasy, idk if it's actually funny but i guess it fits?, there are werewolves and vampires too but this is mostly abt demons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 20:24:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17608328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kihyuks/pseuds/kihyuks
Summary: a demon summoning ritual made up of someinterestingitems ends up going far better than expected and now jooheon's facing the consequences.(or, jooheon has to live with the demon he, minhyuk and kihyun summon.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> for the **urban fantasy** square.

“Let’s summon a demon.”

Jooheon looks up at his friend as if he’s grown a second head. “Why would we summon a demon?”

Minhyuk grins. “Think about all the possibilities! We could get them to buy us snacks when we don’t want to move, they could kill my lecturer, so I never have to do another exam again, so many things.”

Kihyun stares at Minhyuk. “You are not actually suggesting we summon a demon to be a hitman and kill your lecturer, are you?”

“That’s just an idea. I never said we have to make them kill anyone. I do want to summon a demon though.” As he speaks he drops himself in Kihyun’s lap and wraps his arms around his shoulders. “Will you help me?” He juts his bottom lip out, looking at Kihyun with puppy eyes.

“You’re really asking me to help you summon a demon.”

Minhyuk nods and juts his lip out even further.

“You do know demons aren’t real, right?” Even as Kihyun says it, Jooheon can tell that he’s already giving in to Minhyuk.

Minhyuk continues to pout, not saying a word.

“God, the things I do for you,” Kihyun says. “Fine, I’ll help you summon this stupid demon.”

“Don’t call them stupid,” Minhyuk gasps. “They might kill you and then I’ll only have one boyfriend to give me attention and that’s not fair.”

“You still need to introduce me to this other boyfriend of yours,” Jooheon comments. “Also, if you’re summoning a demon we’re going to your place.”

“We? You’re actually joining us?” Kihyun asks, an eyebrow raised.

And sure, Jooheon is easily scared, but everyone knows demons don’t actually exist. Although supernatural creatures are part of society, just the same as humans, demons are just a myth and _everyone_ knows that. They’ve always been used in stories to scare kids and get them to behave, but there’s no proof they exist, so why would Jooheon be scared?

Jooheon nods resolutely. “Maybe they’ll be cute and I can get my lonely ass a cute partner.”

“Imagine dating a demon,” Kihyun laughs.

“I don’t need to imagine it. I’m dating you, aren’t I?” Minhyuk jokes.

Jooheon waits a few seconds.

Kihyun smacks Minhyuk, hard, and Minhyuk lets out a yelp. “If any of us would be a demon it’s you.”

“I’m too cute to be a demon,” Minhyuk whines.

“I think you’re both demons, personally.” Jooheon grins and laughs when two offended faces turn to look at him. “Hey, at least I’m honest.”

“I can assure you I’m not a demon,” Kihyun replies, his head held high. “Minhyuk screams like a demon, though.”

“What the fuck.” Minhyuk smacks Kihyun on the chest. “You’re meant to defend me.”

Jooheon rolls his eyes. “You two hit each other way too much.”

Minhyuk stares Jooheon dead in the face and says, “It’s because he likes it.”

And Jooheon screams, loud, and covers his ears. “Why would you tell me that? I didn’t need to know that! I’m so disturbed.”

“He’s kidding, Jooheon,” Kihyun says.

Jooheon uncovers his ears and breathes a sigh of relief.

Then, Kihyun says, “He’s the one who likes it.” 

Jooheon screams again.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, so, according to my research we need to find five items that link to the demon we want to summon,” Minhyuk explains, reading off of his phone where he’s been googling about how to summon a demon. Jooheon can only assume it’s some made up movie junk he’s found. “Anyone know anything demons like?”

“No clue.” Jooheon stands up from where he's been sitting on Minhyuk's bed. “I’m sure you have some shit in your closet we can use. Can I check?”

“Go ahead.”

With Minhyuk’s permission, Jooheon opens the closet and almost immediately regrets it. A bunch of stuff comes tumbling out and he just sighs as he stares at it. “Why is this such a mess? You’re the tidiest person I know, Kihyun.”

“That’s Minhyuk’s closet. I don’t touch it.”

“Fair.” Jooheon leans down and picks up the first thing he sees on the ground. It looks like... a dog collar? Except it has three rings. He holds it up to Minhyuk and Kihyun. “You don’t own a dog. Why do you have this?”

Minhyuk glances up quickly then returns his attention back to his phone, but not before commenting, “Oh, that’s Kihyun’s choker.”

“You know what, I don’t want to know. I’m using this. Maybe we’ll summon a demon dog.” He throws the so-called choker onto the bed and goes back to looking for something in the closet. He takes a step inside and his foot lands on something that crunches. He retracts his foot and picks up the mysterious item. It’s a bag of cheese puffs. They’re surprisingly intact, so he scans over the bag, only to notice they expired three years ago. “This is disgusting,” he shrieks, throwing the cheese puffs onto the bed. Might as well use them for the summoning if they’re already expired.

“You're disgusting,” Minhyuk calls back lazily. He’s still engrossed in his phone when Jooheon turns back to look at him.

With Minhyuk too busy on his phone, Jooheon goes back to the task at hand. There’s a box on one of the shelves, so he pulls it down and takes a look inside. It’s mostly papers and receipts. He’s about to put it back when he notices something coloured at the bottom of the pile. He pulls it out carefully. It seems to be a signed photo of some kid, and Jooheon’s really not sure what to make of it. “Minhyuk, why do you have a photo of some kid in your closet?”

Minhyuk scrunches his eyebrows together. “What are you talking about?”

Jooheon holds out the photo so Minhyuk can see.

Rather unhelpfully, Minhyuk just starts giggling.

Jooheon looks to Kihyun for help, hoping he can explain the strange photo. “Well?” he prompts.

“It’s that kid who was yodelling in Walmart,” Kihyun explains while Minhyuk continues to giggle at his side.

“You own some really weird shit, Lee Minhyuk.” He steps out of the closet and adds the signed photo to his pile of items on the bed. Three down, two to go. He’s about to venture back inside Minhyuk’s closet of weird items when he sees something green on the ground. He picks it up and it starts yodelling at him, shocking him enough to launch it towards Minhyuk. “What the fuck was that?” he asks, a hand pressed to his heart.

“I hate this thing,” Minhyuk says, throwing it back to Jooheon. “I kept seeing it recommended to me in adverts so I bought it and it was a mistake.”

“What is it even meant to be?”

“A pickle.”

Jooheon stares down at the pickle which is still yodelling. “Who the fuck makes these things?” he mutters to himself, before he picks the pickle up and adds it to his growing pile on the bed.

He takes a moment to stare at his collection of items and wonders why he’s even doing this. It’s not going to work, they’re not going to summon a demon, but there’s a small part of him that’s curious and thinks that maybe, just maybe, demons do exist, and he wants to find out.

He had a werewolf friend once, Hyunwoo, who believed in demons. He had no hard evidence, but he always told Jooheon that there’s never any evidence they _don’t_ exist, either. That’s always stuck with Jooheon. He just wants to know if Hyunwoo was right, if demons really do exist, and a summoning with his dumb friends using pointless items seems like it could just do the trick. And hey, if it doesn’t work, he’ll at least have had the experience of attempting a (very poor) demon summoning ritual.

Jooheon looks over at Kihyun and Minhyuk and asks, “Any suggestions for the final item?”

“The Jeff Goldblum body pillow is a personal favourite,” Kihyun says blankly, not looking up from his own phone.

Jooheon stares, eyes wide. “You're joking, right?”

Kihyun looks up at Jooheon and slowly shakes his head. It’s slightly terrifying.

Instead of replying, Jooheon returns to the closet and looks around for said body pillow. It’s quite dark in there, but he manages to spot a pile of pillows in the corner. He reaches over and pulls out the long one, before exiting the closet so he has light and can see it. 

Turns out, Kihyun really wasn’t joking. Minhyuk _does_ own a Jeff Goldblum body pillow. He throws it onto the bed, kicks everything that spilled out onto the floor inside and shuts the closet. “That’s everything. Let’s summon this bitch.”

 

* * *

 

Their summoning is all set up in the middle of Kihyun and Minhyuk’s living room. They have their summoning circle set out on the floor using masking tape, with each of the five items Jooheon chose placed at each of the corners.

It looks like a pretty shitty summoning if Jooheon’s being honest, but it’s mostly just for fun (even with his curiosity about the existence of demons), so he lets the poorly done summoning circle remain.

Minhyuk lights a candle and adds it to the centre of the circle. “That’s everything,” he announces, looking proud of his work.

Jooheon looks to Kihyun, who nods back at him. Kihyun agreed to read out the spell as it was in Latin and Jooheon didn’t trust himself to try and read it properly, and he _especially_ didn’t trust Minhyuk to read it.  

Kihyun looks down at his phone and starts to read off the spell. For the first few lines, nothing happens, as Jooheon expected, but then as he continues to read the one light they’d left on starts to flicker.

Jooheon puts it down to an electrical mistake.

Then, the TV turns itself on. Kihyun looks over to it, confused, but quickly turns back to his phone to continue reading.

A low hum starts to sound from all around them. Jooheon tries to find the source of the sound, but it seems to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.

As Kihyun continues to speak, the humming grows louder. The flame of the candle in the centre starts to grow bigger and bigger.

Jooheon is, to put it simply, abso-fucking-lutely terrified. He wants to tell Kihyun to stop speaking, to stop the summoning, because this was meant to be fake, a joke, but it seems all too real and he wants it to stop. He was curious, yes, but he never really thought it would work, and now that things are happening he wishes he’d never been curious. He wishes he hadn’t agreed to join in.

He wants to say something, but he’s frozen in fear, his mouth won’t even open. All he can do is watch and wait as the candle flame grows and the humming gets louder.

Then, all the light sources go out and they’re plunged into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uHhh sorry this took so long if anyone is still interested in reading this i. have many bingos to do so it is taking me a while to update chaptered fics but the whole thing is planned out n i definitely will be finishing it!

The room is pitch black. Jooheon can’t see a thing. He can hear shuffling noises and Kihyun swearing under his breath, but mostly he can just hear the sound of his own heart beating.

Seconds go by in the darkness.

Minutes.

Jooheon is frozen in place. He can’t move. He can’t open his mouth to speak. He’s stuck. It feels like he’s been bound with chains and his feet have been glued to the floor.

More minutes pass.

Jooheon’s eyes won’t adjust to the darkness. It’s like he’s blinded. There should be some source of light, but there isn’t.

He can’t hear anything anymore. Minhyuk and Kihyun have gone silent. Or maybe they’ve left the room. Jooheon doesn’t know. He can’t tell. Is he still in the room? Why can’t he see anything?

Jooheon has so many questions and no answers. Only the eerie silence and lack of any light.

He doesn’t know how much longer he stands there, frozen in place. It feels like hours.

He wants to call out to Minhyuk and Kihyun, but he still can’t make a sound.

It feels like hell.

A light flicks on above and Jooheon comes back to reality. He’s still standing in front of the summoning circle. All of the items are still in place. Kihyun sits on the floor opposite him, head in his hands. Minhyuk is standing by the light switch. It must’ve been him who turned the light on. The other person in the room is sitting on the sofa, cross-legged.

Wait.

Jooheon lets out a piercing scream. 

Kihyun’s head snaps up, wondering what’s wrong with Jooheon.

Jooheon can’t speak to explain. All he can do is scream. He stares wide-eyed at the sofa where the man is sitting, looking back at him with curiosity in his eyes.

Kihyun turns around and he screams too, noticing the stranger.

Then, Minhyuk joins in.

“Is this how humans greet people?” the man asks.

And Jooheon screams louder. 

The man rolls his eyes and pushes himself up off the sofa. He stretches his neck side to side and it makes a loud clicking noise. “Can we stop with the screaming now? I want to know why I was summoned here.”

Jooheon clamps his mouth shut. _Summoned here._

Their summoning worked.

There’s a demon standing in Minhyuk and Kihyun’s living room.

The demon doesn’t really look like a demon. He just looks like a regular young guy, with messy black hair and a leather jacket with ripped jeans. He’s attractive, for sure, but Jooheon wouldn’t be caught dead telling anyone that.

“You think I’m hot?” The demon looks directly at Jooheon, smirking.

Jooheon gulps. “You read minds?” Oh god, the demon reads minds.

And the demon laughs, loudly. “No. I don’t. You were checking me out.”

Jooheon’s face heats up. Well, at least he knows that no one can hear his thoughts today, even if he did just get caught checking out a demon in Minhyuk and Kihyun’s living room.

The situation properly hits him then and he starts to giggle. It’s ridiculous, really. Minhyuk had jokingly suggested that they summon a demon and now there’s an actual living demon in the living room. It’s absurd. He cackles louder, hitting his knees as he laughs.

He can hear Kihyun and Minhyuk’s laughter as they join in.

“Is there a joke I’m missing out on?” the demon asks.

Jooheon shakes his head. “This is just the most ridiculous situation,” he explains through his giggles.

When he calms down enough to speak, Jooheon decides he might as well find out more about the demon. “What’s your name?”

“Changkyun, but you can call me your future husband.” He adds in a wink at the end.

Jooheon chokes and his face returns to its previous red colour. “Changkyun isn’t a very demon-like name.”

“What did you want me to be called? Lucifer’s bitch?”

“Can I call you that instead?” Minhyuk pipes up.

Changkyun gives him a once over then shakes his head. “Sorry, you’re not my type.”

And Jooheon can’t help but let out a laugh at that, even though he tries to cover it up with a cough. Minhyuk isn’t having it, though, and glares at him.

“So,” Changkyun starts, getting Jooheon’s attention, “what’s your name, cutie?”

“Jooheon.”

Changkyun smirks. “A cute name for a cute person.”

“I’m Minhyuk and this is Kihyun,” Minhyuk adds loudly from where the two of them are hiding in the corner of the room.

Changkyun looks over to the two of them and nods. “Well, now we have the formalities out of the way, what did you summon me for?”

Minhyuk looks over at Jooheon, hesitating. Kihyun doesn’t look like he’s going to speak either.

Jooheon sighs, realising it’s going to be on him to explain. “Um, well. We didn’t think it’d work. I didn’t think demons existed.”

Changkyun tilts his head, frowning. “But there’s a demon in the house right now?”

“Uh, what?” Minhyuk speaks, a layer of fear in his voice. “The only other person here is our boyfriend.”

“Then your boyfriend is a demon,” Changkyun states with no emotion in his voice.

There’s a short, high-pitched whistling sound and another person appears by Changkyun’s side.

Jooheon barely resists screaming again.

“Hyungwon, what the _fuck_?” Kihyun yells, disbelief in his voice.

Hyungwon has the decency to look apologetic. “Sorry?”

Minhyuk drops to the floor. He stares up at Hyungwon, eyes wide. “You’re a demon. You’re a _demon_?”

Dropping to the sofa with a sigh, Hyungwon nods. “Demons aren’t meant to exist anymore. We’re meant to be erased from existence, so we have to live secretly. I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to stick around.”

For the first time meeting Hyungwon, Jooheon has a rather interesting opinion of him now.

Minhyuk’s face is just blank.

Kihyun, though, looks upset. His lips are turned downwards. “You couldn’t even tell us? I thought we trusted each other with everything?”

“No, Ki, it’s not like that.”

Kihyun shakes his head and looks away.

“He’s being genuine, Kihyun,” Changkyun speaks up.

Kihyun turns to look at him, his eyes shining with tears.

“It might not be my place to talk, you don’t know me and I don’t know you, but I do know about demons. You know about vampires and their royalty, right?”

Kihyun nods. “Of course. Everyone’s heard about the vampire queen. She’s all over the news. All of the royal family are.”

“Well, there’s a royal bloodline of demons, too. We co-existed with them for a while, but there’s always been tension between us and vampires, and long story short a war broke out because of the conflicting opinions of the vampire king at the time and the king of the demons.” Changkyun’s voice gets thick as he gets choked up. He takes a deep breath to collect himself, then continues. “The only solution to stop demons being physically erased from existence, was for us to agree to the knowledge of demons being erased and we had to leave society.”

Sadness washes over Jooheon. He never expected this to happen when they joked about summoning a demon, and he especially didn’t expect to become so emotional finding out about what truly happened in the past. “What do you do now? Since no one knows demons exist anymore. Surely you can’t all be here like Hyungwon is.”

“You’re right. Some of us integrate into society, acting as humans,” Hyungwon explains. “Most of us stay in what you all refer to as Hell, away from the rest of society.”

“Is Hell, like, fires and shit?” Jooheon asks, curious. 

Changkyun laughs and shakes his head. “No, it’s just an island that isn’t documented anywhere. We basically have a similar society to yours, just only demons since, well, we’re not allowed to be part of everyone else’s society.”

“Huh. Who would’ve thought,” Jooheon comments. It’s a lot to take in, really, the existence of demons and the fact that Minhyuk and Kihyun are _dating_ a demon. “Oh, Hyungwon,” Jooheon starts, turning to look at said person, “it’s nice to finally meet you, by the way. I’m Jooheon.”

“You too.” Hyungwon scratches the back of his neck and looks down. “Sorry it had to be in such weird circumstances.”

Jooheon waves a dismissive hand. “Could be worse. Just a couple of demons with some bros, am I right?”

Everyone laughs, glad for Jooheon to be lightening such a weird atmosphere.

“You know,” Changkyun starts, “now you’ve summoned me I’m kinda stuck here.”

Minhyuk balks and looks at Hyungwon, who nods to confirm Changkyun’s words. “Well, what do we do with you?”

Changkyun taps his chin, thinking. “Anyone got a spare room?”

Immediately, all eyes turn to Jooheon, who very insistently shakes his head. “You seem great and all, Changkyun, but we just met and I’m scared of dying in my sleep.”

“I’m not gonna _kill_  you,” Changkyun scoffs. “I’ll pay rent.”

Well, that sounds good, because Jooheon’s rent is far too high ever since his last roommate moved out. He hasn’t been able to find a replacement so he’s been stuck paying rent all by himself.

“Promise not to kill me?”

Changkyun holds out a pinky finger. “Promise.”

Jooheon wraps his own finger around Changkyun’s and hopes he’s not making a bad decision.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m updating this again hehehe i take SO LONG but. i wrote this half on a plane and half on a sunbed by a pool so if its terrible you know why HWDKKD

Living with Changkyun— No, living with a _demon_ is not what Jooheon expected it to be at all. It’s actually quite the same as living with a human roommate. The only difference is, well, Changkyun seems to hate the concept of walking, so instead of doing so he just teleports from room to room and Jooheon is too jumpy to not get a fright every single time Changkyun appears in front of him.

Speaking of which, Jooheon has just been given the fright of his life as he’s sitting on the sofa, enjoying some TV, when there’s a short, high-pitched sound and then Changkyun appears next to him on the sofa. 

Jooheon screams.

Changkyun smirks. “You scream a lot, you know.”

“And you scare me. Why do you teleport everywhere?”

“Would you walk if you didn’t have to?”

Jooheon considers it. Reluctantly, he says, “No.”

Changkyun nods. “Well, there you have it.” He turns his attention away from Jooheon and to the TV, ending the conversation.

But Jooheon doesn’t want to end it there. Against everything he knows he should feel, he’s fascinated by Changkyun. Not just because he’s a demon, although that is part of it, but also because he’s an interesting person. He has so many little quirks, and he’s so funny. He’s constantly making Jooheon laugh and it doesn’t even seem like he tries. He’s also got so many interesting stories and Jooheon just wants to hear them all.

So, it’s fair to say Jooheon really likes his new roommate, even with the fact that he’s, you know, a demon and not meant to exist.

There’s one question specifically that’s been on Jooheon’s mind for days, ever since he summoned Changkyun. “Hey, Changkyun?”

“Yes?” Changkyun replies. He looks back at Jooheon to give him his full attention and Jooheon feels embarrassed under the weight of his stare. He isn’t used to having so much of someone’s attention on him at once, but he finds he likes it. It makes him feel seen. 

“I was just wondering about something you said,” Jooheon starts, but then he bites his lip and stops himself. What if it’s a stupid question? What if Changkyun doesn’t want to be bombarded with all these questions about his life from some stranger who summoned him accidentally?

“You can ask me anything, you know? It’s not gonna bother me,” Changkyun urges.

Jooheon squints his eyes. “Are you sure you don’t read minds?”

Changkyun winks, but doesn’t reply to that.

Jooheon hopes he’s just joking. Really hopes he’s just joking.

Changkyun smiles at Jooheon, then, when Jooheon still hasn’t said anything.

Jooheon takes it as a sign he actually wants to listen to Jooheon’s ridiculous questions, for one reason or another. “Why can’t you go back to Hell now that I’ve summoned you? You said it’s an island, so why not just teleport back there?”

Changkyun has a look on his face like he expected that, but he still gives Jooheon a reassuring smile. “It’s complicated. There’s some old magic, centuries old, that makes it hard to enter Hell. Leaving is a lot easier. We get summoned, we’re out and can roam free, basically, but getting back in, or even finding the location is complicated.”

“Can anyone go back, then?”

Changkyun nods. “It’s possible, just hard. To be honest, I’m glad you summoned me.”

That’s not what Jooheon expected him to say. “Really? What about your family? Friends?”

Changkyun shrugs, then takes his attention off of Jooheon to look back at the TV. Jooheon takes it as a sign that the conversation is over and also looks back to the TV.

He just hopes Changkyun isn’t upset with him.

 

* * *

 

Jooheon is sitting in his room at his desk when the idea to contact his old friend, Hyunwoo, comes to him. They haven’t spoken in far too long, but when they were close during school Hyunwoo was always talking to Jooheon about his research about demons. He was so convinced they existed even though everyone told him they were nothing but a myth. Jooheon didn’t even really believe him because why would he?

It turns out he probably should have.

So, maybe it’s about time Jooheon contacts Hyunwoo and asks him to meet again. He misses his friend, after all, and demons existing are as good an excuse as any to meet up with him again.

He sends a quick text to Hyunwoo. When he puts his phone down, he hears a knock on his door. Frowning, Jooheon calls, “Come in.”

The door opens a crack and Changkyun’s head peeps around to look at him. “I’m cooking dinner. Want to join?”

Jooheon stares at Changkyun blankly. “You didn’t teleport in here.”

“You said it scared you.”

“Oh.”

For a demon, Changkyun is more considerate than Jooheon would’ve expected him to be. Then again, what is Jooheon meant to expect from a demon? It’s not like they’re meant to exist, so everything he knows of them is based off rumours and lies.

“So,” Changkyun starts when Jooheon doesn’t say anything, “dinner?”

“Oh, yeah, thanks.” Jooheon stands and follows Changkyun out into the kitchen. There’s a delicious smell of spaghetti and meatballs and Jooheon’s mouth starts watering. “You never told me you can cook.”

Changkyun grins. “Who said I cooked this?”

Jooheon stares at the clearly dirty saucepan and spoon. “Did you not? Can demons magically create food?”

“Yeah, of course I made it. I’m fucking with you.”

Jooheon glares at the smug smile that forms on Changkyun’s face. “I hate you.”

“You looove me,” Changkyun singsongs.

Jooheon rolls his eyes. How did he get stuck living with the most ridiculous and human-like demon ever? Instead of replying, Jooheon takes a seat at the table. “Feed me,” Jooheon demands. He grins at Changkyun who glares at him, a complete turn of events.

“What am I, your demon slave?”

“Yes. Why else would I have summoned you?”

Changkyun turns his back to Jooheon and gets back to cooking the last of the meal.

Not too long later, the food is cooked and dished up. Changkyun places a plate down in front of Jooheon and then takes a seat opposite him with his own meal.

“Thanks, Changkyun,” Jooheon says as he starts to dig in to his food.

Changkyun sits there and leaves his plate untouched and watches as Jooheon eats his.

Jooheon pauses, his fork almost to his mouth, and looks between Changkyun and his dinner. “Are you not going to eat?”

“I don’t need to.”

Jooheon squints. “If you don’t need to eat food, what do you eat?”

“Souls,” Changkyun replies nonchalantly.

Jooheon’s fork falls from his hand and clatters to the plate. It makes a short, but loud sound that has Jooheon cringing. “Sorry,” he says, “but do you really eat souls?” He pauses and his eyes widen in fear. “Are you going to eat my soul?” He clutches his chest as if that would in any way protect his soul from Changkyun.

Changkyun chuckles and Jooheon realises he’s been duped once again.

“You’re so easy to fool, but no. The whole soul thing is vampire propaganda,” Changkyun explains. He picks up his knife and fork and begins to dig into his food. “God damn, I’m a good cook,” he praises himself around a mouthful.

And, well, Jooheon can’t deny that. The food is _really_ good. Better than Kihyun’s even. He picks up his fork that had fallen, a bite still on the end, and begins to eat his own meal once again.

It takes almost no time for the two of them to devour their food. “I’m so full,” Jooheon whines as he clutches his stomach.

“Me too. I don’t think I can ever eat again.” Changkyun slowly slides down his chair until he’s laying on the floor half under the table, only his head supported by his chair. “I’m just going to die here.”

“Don’t die on my floor, thanks.” Jooheon takes his and Changkyun’s plates over to the sink and begins to wash them up. It doesn’t take long, thankfully, and then he puts the now clean plates and cutlery onto the drying rack. “Thank you for making that, by the way. I didn’t even know I had the ingredients for, you know, actual meals.”

“Your friend Kihyun dropped some food round when you were working earlier,” Changkyun explains. “I thought I’d make you an actual meal because you can’t keep living off of instant ramen. Also, to thank you for letting me stay here.”

Jooheon waves a dismissive hand. “You’re paying rent. You don’t need to thank me.”

“Still. I wanted to.”

Jooheon gives a smile. He decides living with Changkyun is actually quite nice. Much better than he expected it to be.

 

> * * *

 

“It’s been a while, huh?” Hyunwoo says as Jooheon sits down opposite him in the cafe.

“It really has. How have you been?”

Hyunwoo shrugs. “I’m doing good. Finally opened up that dance studio I always dreamed of.”

“Oh, dude, that’s awesome.” Jooheon knows it’s always been Hyunwoo’s dream to own and run his own dance studio. He’s been talking about it for as long as Jooheon has known him, so he’s happy for and proud of his friend for finally achieving his dreams. “Werewolves only? Or are you open to all species?”

“All species. I wanted to make it as inclusive as possible.”

Jooheon smiles. That sounds just like Hyunwoo. He’s always been one who wanted the different species and communities within those species to interact more. It makes Jooheon happy because even though he’s in the majority being a human and all, he’s always known that there shouldn’t be one species put above another. Hyunwoo is his childhood friend and he’s a werewolf, after all. “I’m really glad.”

“How about you?” Hyunwoo asks. He takes a sip of his drink and then grimaces. “Why is it still so hot?” he mutters under his breath.

Jooheon laughs. “Be careful. Wouldn’t want you burning your tongue.” Jooheon takes a sip of his own drink, an iced coffee so he has no chance of getting a burnt tongue himself. “I’m doing good. I actually have something to tell you about demons.”

Before Jooheon can continue, he hears that distinct whistling sound that he’s become used to over the past few days and he looks around trying to spot Changkyun. He frowns, because he doesn’t see him. He turns back to Hyunwoo. “Did you hear that?”

Except it’s not Hyunwoo who replies.

“Hear what?” Changkyun has that signature smirk on his face.

Jooheon barely holds back his scream. He only manages because he’s in public and he doesn’t want to be banned forever from his favourite cafe.

Changkyun turns to Hyunwoo, who looks completely stoic and unaffected by the fact that a stranger just spontaneously appeared next to him, and says, “Nice to meet you. I’m Changkyun, Jooheon’s demon friend.”

“Oh. Nice to meet you too.” Hyunwoo sticks his hand out to shake Changkyun’s hand. “I see demons exist then.”

“We do. I heard you did lots of research and Jooheon came to tell you, so I thought I’d come along and assist.” Changkyun turns to look at Jooheon. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

“No. How did you know what I was coming to tell Hyunwoo, though?” Jooheon definitely hadn’t mentioned what he was doing to Changkyun.

Changkyun shrugs. “Mind reader. I told you.”

Jooheon swallows. It’s just a joke. He can’t read Jooheon’s mind, he’s already said. There has to be another explanation.

“Anyway,” Changkyun starts and turns to Hyunwoo, “any questions?”

The two begin to chat away about the history of demons. Hyunwoo asks all of the questions he has and Changkyun answers every single one in as much detail as possible.

It makes Jooheon happy to see his friends getting along.

Wait— friends?

Is Changkyun his friend? Can he already consider Changkyun a friend after such a short period of time? Especially when Changkyun’s only ever associated with other demons for his entire life as far as Jooheon is aware. He did call himself Jooheon’s friend when he introduced himself to Hyunwoo, but was that because he actually thinks of himself as Jooheon’s friend or because it was an easy way to explain that he’s a demon? Is there some rule about whether demons and humans can be friends?

Before Jooheon can start worrying himself over whether he and Changkyun can be considered friends or not, someone taps on his wrist to get his attention. Jooheon looks up and sees Hyunwoo standing with his bag ready to leave.

“I have to go, sorry, it’s almost time for my shift.” Hyunwoo gives an apologetic smile. “It was really nice seeing you again, though, Jooheon. We should do something again soon.”

Jooheon nods. “I’ll text you and arrange something.”

Hyunwoo waves to the both of them and takes his leave.

Jooheon turns his attention to Changkyun. “Want to go home?”

Changkyun nods. “I’ll walk with you.”

The two of them leave together. They walk in silence for most of the journey home, both appreciating the warm weather and clear skies.

When they reach the front door, Changkyun looks at Jooheon with a suspicious smile. “I didn’t read your mind, by the way. I saw you texting Hyunwoo.”

Jooheon throws his head back and groans and does his best to ignore Changkyun’s laughter. 

“You’re an ass,” Jooheon complains.

“The one and only.”

Changkyun holds the front door open for Jooheon after unlocking it.

Jooheon thanks him with a smile.

“Popcorn and a movie?” Changkyun suggests. “I want to watch another one of those human movies about demons. They’re terrible and I love it.”

Jooheon doesn’t even hesitate to agree.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos & comments appreciated!
> 
> twitter: [@changkihyks](http://twitter.com/changkihyks/)


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